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Iit Environment Canada Environnement Canada

2, Fisheries and Marine Service

Service des peches et des sciences de lamer

Photographic Reproductions of Atlantic Salmon Scales From Fish of Known Sea Ages

by

D. K MacPhail

5 Technical Report Series No. MAR T-74-1

Resource Development Branch

Maritimes Region

PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS OF

ATLANTIC SALMON SCALES FROM FISH OF

KNOWN SEA AGES

D.K. MACPHAIL

MARCH, 1974

TECHNICAL REPORT NO. MAR/T-74-1

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT BRANCH FISHERIES AND MARINE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

SAINT JOHN RIVER, NEW BRUNSWICK

vii

1

3-27

MIRAMICHI RIVER, NEW BRUNSWICK 27-35

BIG SALMON RIVER, NEW BRUNSWICK 36-41

PETITCODIAC RIVER, NEW BRUNSWICK 42-49

MEDWAY RIVER, NOVA SCOTIA 50-51

RESTIGOUCHE RIVER, NEW BRUNSWICK 52-53

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 54

REFERENCES 54

iii

ABBREVIATIONS

SM - Smolt migration

Al - End of first sea winter

SP - First spawning mark

A2 - End of second sea winter

SP2 - Second spawning mark

V

ABSTRACT

In this report, photographic reproductions of Atlantic salmon scales are used to show scale growth which occurred during known time intervals between tagging and recapture. Scale samples were collected from tagged hatchery and wild stocks from six New Brunswick and Nova Scotia rivers. The fish were aged using basic scale-reading techniques.

EXTRAIT

Dans le present rapport, on a utilise des vues photogra-phiques d'ecailles de saumon de l'Atlantique pour demontrer la croissance de l'ecaille dans des intervalles de temps connus, c'est-a-dire entre l'application de l'etiquette et la reprise de specimen. On a assemble des echantillons d'ecailles de pois-sons etiquetes provenant des etablissements de pisciculture, d' une part, et de six riviares du Nouveau-Brunswick et de la Nou-velle-Ecosse, d'autre part. On a determine l'age des specimens a l'aide de methodes classiques de mesurage des ecailles.

vii

INTRODUCTION

Many of the decisions regarding Atlantic salmon management, habitat protection and artificial propagation are based on age data compiled from scale readings. It is therefore most impor-tant that one's scale-reading technique be as accurate as possible.

It is often difficult for the novice scale reader to recog-nize yearly patterns of scale growth due to the wide variations in growth of individual fish and of fish from different rivers. In this report, photographs of scales from fish of known ages are presented. These photographs should serve as guidelines for recognizing Atlantic salmon scale growth patterns and relating these patterns to fish age.

Ageing Atlantic salmon by means of scale reading is based mainly on the spacing of circuli (rings), the narrow-spaced cir-cull being laid down in the winter and the wide-spaced circuli being laid down in the summer. Seasonal changes in growth rate, as indicated by the spacing of circuli on the scale, enable a scale reader to determine the age of a salmon. Detailed accounts of Atlantic salmon scale structure and ageing have been presented previously by Johnston (1905) and Jones (1949).

Scales photographed for this report were taken from Atlantic salmon which were tagged- released and recaptured at a number of locations. The growth aments shown were laid down over known periods of time. For fish tagged and released as adults, photographs of scales taken at tagging and recapture (pp. 8-51) are presented on facing pages. This enables the reader to dis-tinguish that part of the scale laid down during the period of time between tagging and recapture. For fish tagged and released as smolt (pp. 3-7, 52, 53), only the photograph of the scale taken at time of recapture is presented, since fresh water and sea growth are readily distinguishable. No attempt has been made to interpret the juvenile freshwater life of these fish. Sea life has been interpreted, but only the time period between tag-ging and recapture can be confirmed.

Tagged adult fish referred to in this report were taken from various rivers in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They were captured and scale sampled at counting traps during broodstock collections and experimental fishing operations. Most recoveries were made in or near home waters by angling, commercial or scientific sample-fishing operations, but a few were returned by commercial fishermen from more distant waters. When available, length measurements for fish are specified as "fork length" or "total length". Where the methods of measure-ment were not recorded, they are reported as "length" only.

Al

SM

3

Release data:

Tag no. - A.23218 Date - Spring, 1967

Recovery data:

Date - July 11, 1968 Age - 2-yr hatchery smolt Length - 52 cm (total) River - Saint John River - Saint John Location - Mactaquac Fish Location - Mactaquac area

Culture Station

Al

SM

-

7r1, • 4,

,kj?

, - -

4

Release data:


Recovery data:

Date - July 15, 1968 Age - 2-yr hatchery smolt Length - 52 cm (total) River - Saint John River - Saint John Location - Mactaquac Fish Location - Mactaquac Dam

Culture Station

5

Release data:

Tag no. - A.24830 Date - 1967

Recovery data:

Date - July 8, 1968 Age - 2-yr hatchery smolt Length - 56 cm (total) River - Saint John River - Saint John Location Mactaquac Fish Location - N/A

Culture Station

6

Release data:


Recovery data:

Date - July 8, 1969 Age - 2-yr hatchery smolt Length - 76 cm River - Saint John River - Saint John Location - Mactaquac Fish Location - N/A

Culture Station

• • • "coat

. •

• a.. 4L ,

a

4 • I' ,

a I • .h v,

V ' A, 4.1

• 4. •

7

Release data:


Recovery data:

Date - July 10, 1969 Age - 2-yr hatchery smolt Length - 70 cm (total) River - Saint John River - Saint John Location Mactaquac Fish Location - Mactaquac area

Culture Station

8

Tagging data:

Tag no. - 9838 Date - August 1, 1967 Sex - Male Length - 61 cm (total) Weight - N/A River - Saint John Location - Mactaquac area

9

Recovery data:

Tag no. Date Elapsed time Length Weight River Location

9838 July 1, 1969 23 months 83 cm N/A Saint John Mactaquac Dam

Al

S M

10

Tagging data:

Tag no. Date Sex Length Weight River Location

- 3261 - October 22, 1965 - N/A - 66 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Westfield

A4

A3

SP2

A2

SP

Al

SM

11

Recovery data:


3261 July 5, 1968 32 months, 14 days N/A N/A Saint John Lorneville

Al

SM

12

Tagging data:


- 2922 - September 2, 1965 - N/A - 58 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Westfield

13

A4

SP3

A3

SP2

A2

SP

Al

Recovery data:


- 2922 - August 5, 1968 - 35 months, 3 days - 74 cm - N/A - Saint John - N/A

14

Tagging data:


- A.32073 - June 19, 1967 - N/A - 71 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Fish

Culture Station

A3

SP

A2

Al

S M

15

Recovery data:


- A.32073 - July 7, 1968 - 12 months, 18 days - 85 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Dam

A2

Al

SM

16

Tagging data


9641 - July 20, 1967 - Female - 70 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac area

17

Recovery data:


- 9641 - September 19, 1969 - 26 months - 82 cm - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Dam

18

Tagging data:


- 32098 - June 21, 1967 - Female - 73.5 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac area

19

Recovery data:


- 32098 - June 25, 1969 - 24 months, 3 days - 83 cm - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Dam

20

Tagging


data:

- 9405 - July 10, 1967 - Female - 77 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac area

21

Recovery data:

Tag no. - 9405 Date - June 24, 1969 Elapsed time - 23 months, 14 days Length - 88 cm Weight - N/A River - Saint John Location - Mactaquac Dam

A4

A3

SP

A2

Al

SM

22

Tagging data:


- 68 - September 14, 1967 - Female - 84 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Fish

Culture Station

23

Recovery data:


- 68 - July 1, 1969 - 21 months, 17 - 88 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac Dam

days

24

Tagging data:


- 9024 - June 22, 1967 - Female - 73 cm - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac area

25

Recovery data:


- 9024 - June 25, 1969 - 24 months, 3 days - 80 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Mactaquac area

26

Tagging data:


- 2669 - August 29, 1965 - N/A - 83 cm (total) - N/A - Saint John - Westfield

A5

SP3

A4

SP2

A3

SP

A2

Al

SBA

27

Recovery data:


- 2669 - July 28, 1968 - 35 months - N/A - 8.62 kg - Saint John - N/A

28

Tagging data:


- A.2369 - October 12, 1968 - Male - 57 cm (total) - N/A - Miramichi - Millbank

A2

SP

Al

SM

29

Recovery data:


- A.2369 - March, 1970 - 17 months - 70 cm (total) - N/A - N/A - Greenland waters

Al

SM

30

Tagging data:


- A.2700 - July 6, 1969 - N/A - 51 cm (total) - N/A - Miramichi - Millbank

31

Recovery data:


- A.2700 - June 17, 1971 - 23 months, 11 days - 76 cm (total) - N/A - Miramichi - Escuminac drift

net fishery

A2

Al

SM

-.4 •

„ . • • ..in >t$:

Jr

tte

.k • **4

32

Tagging data:


- A.3392 - July 14, 1970 - N/A - 75 cm (fork) - N/A - Miramichi - Millbank

A3

SP

A2

Al

SM

•

- • . ffik:

'1",7

4

r • - •

33

Recovery data:

Tag no. Date Elapsed time - Length Weight River Location

A.3392 May 20, 1971 10 months, 6 days N/A N/A Miramichi Chatham

A2

Al

SM

34

Tagging data:


- A.2393 - October 16, 1968 - Female - 73 cm (total) - N/A - Miramichi - Millbank

35

A4 SP2 A3 ,SP A2

-7"8111,.

Al

SM

,

r

Recovery data:


- A.2393 - June 9, 1970 - 19 months, 24 days - 91 cm - 7.2 kg - Miramichi - Baie Ste. Anne drift net fishery

A3

SP

A2

Al

S M

/'

36

Tagging data:


- B.9346 - October 24, 1970 - Female - 80 cm (fork) - 5.67 kg - Big Salmon - N/A

A4

SP2

A3

SP

A2

Al

t.

SM

ar

•

f;s•—• * " ..„

37

Recovery data:


- B.9346 - September 13, 1971 - 10 months, 20 days - 83 cm (fork) - 6.2 kg - Big Salmon - Salmon counting

fence

A3

SP2

A2

SP

Al

s m

' • *

4

1/245,1.

r# t,

; ■• !), • e

-. Nl... ,.. A ,.. • • ' 'IV 41,,, e.... .--, , _ .....„,. . . . ...„ , , r e . •

' . .. %,

38

Tagging data:



e •

ar

r'",\ ••■••■•

— - . 4Zov,--

A4

SP3

A3

SP2

A2

SP

Al

SM

" ✓ rf

:4

39

Recovery data:


- B.9393 - July 17, 1971 - 8 months, 24 days - 75 cm (fork) - 5.1 kg - Big Salmon - Salmon counting fence

40

Tagging data:



41

Recovery data:


- B.9350 - August 3, 1971 - 9 months, 10 days - 76 cm (fork) - 5.1 kg - Big Salmon - Salmon counting fence

itZ

Tagging data:


- B.0408 - October 7, 1970 - Male - 48.9 cm (fork) - N/A - Petitcodiac - Moncton Causeway

salmon trap

43

Recovery data:

Tag no. - B.0408 Date - October 25, 1971 Elapsed time - 12 months, 18 days Length - 55.3 cm (fork) Weight - N/A River - Petitcodiac Location - Moncton Causeway

salmon trap

Al

S M

A2

SP

Al

SM

4a

Tagging data:


- B.0322 - September 21, 1970 - N/A - 52.1 cm (fork) - N/A - Petitcodiac - Moncton Causeway

salmon trap

vi.ow kt lavikt• ,

45

Recovery data:


- B.0322 - September 29, 1971 - 12 months, 8 days - 61.0 cm (total) - N/A - Petitcodiac - Moncton Causeway salmon trap

46

Tagging data:



salmon trap

47

Recovery data:


- B.0463 - November 9, 1971 - 13 months - 59 cm (fork) - N/A - Petitcodiac - Moncton Causeway

salmon trap

48

Tagging data:



salmon trap

49

A2

SP

Al

SM

6

Recovery data


- B.0445 - November 9, 1971 - 13 months, 1 day - 54.8 cm (fork) - N/A - Petitcodiac - Moncton Causeway

salmon trap

Al

SM

SO

Tagging data:


- 95 - November 4, 1969 - Male - N/A - N/A - Medway - Greenfield

51

Recovery data:


- 95 - November, 1971 - 24 months - N/A - N/A - Medway - Greenfield

52

Release data:

Tag no. - C.21263 Date June, 1967

Recovery data:

Date - June, 1969 Age Hatchery smolt Length - 76 cm River Restigouche River - N/A Location - N/A Location - East coast of

Newfoundland

Al

SM

53

Release data:

Tag no. - 23713

Recovery data:

Date - Spring, 1967 Date - October 10, 1968 Age - Hatchery smolt Length - 55 cm River - Restigouche Weight - 2.52 kg Location - N/A River - N/A

Location - Greenland waters

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to thank the tech-nicians who encouraged me and supplied scale samples and data for this publication. Norman Fenerty of the Photographic Unit, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, developed the technique used to photograph these scales, without which this publication would not have been possible.

55

REFERENCES

JOHNSTON, H.W. The scales of Tay salmon as indicative of age, growth and spawning habits. Rep. Fish. Bd. Scotl., Part II, 1905, 63-79.

JONES, J.W. Studies of the scales of young salmon, Salmo salar L. (juv.) in relation to growth, migration and spawning. Fish. Invest. (Mini-stry of Agriculture and Fish-eries, Great Britain), Series I, Vol. 1 (1), 1949.

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